India all-rounder and Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya has had a difficult time in the last 8 months. He injured his leg while fielding off his own bowling against Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup game after which he was ruled out of the tournament. He missed many series for India as he recovered from the injury. Then, he took a decision which has brought him only hate not just on social media but also on the ground. The decision to come back to MI and then being named as captain has not gone down well with the fans.
Hardik made his comeback at the IPL and was constantly booed by the crowd. It didn’t stop even at MI’s home pitch Wankhede. Instead, the volume of the booeing only grew. Hardik was terribly out of form throughout the season. The only good things that happened was that he was not dropped from the BCCI’s annual pay contract and was named in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad as well.
As soon as the IPL came to an end, the rumours of his alleged divorce with wife Natasa Stankovic began to float on social media. Some of the activities of the two on Instagram have fuelled the rumours. They both have no more comments on each other’s post on Instagram. The ‘likes’ are also missing. Natasa was out in the streets of Mumbai and was quizzed about the divorce rumours and she remained silent.
On the same night, Team India left for USA to take part in the T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli and Hardik were two big players who were not present at the airport. It is being reported that Virat did not go with the team because of some paperwork issues which will be sorted by the end of the month. But fans are speculating why Hardik was not present.
There have been reports of rift between Hardik and India captain Rohit Sharma. The rumours of the divorce are already rife. Fans are speculating whether the rumoured divorce is the reason behind Hardik’s absence in Team India’s departure.
Hardik made it to the 15-man squad for the World Cup on the back of reputation and not form. The selection committee hopes that India’s best fast-bowling all-rounder will come back to form in the mega event.